DEAL ENDS DISPUTE OVER MUSIC PLAYER

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., the No. 2 U.S. pay radio service, reached an agreement with EMI Group PLC resolving concerns over a portable music player that lets users record and organize songs from digital radio.

EMI Music North America and Sirius "resolved the issues" over Sirius' S50 portable player, Adam Grossberg, a spokesman for London-based EMI, said Friday in an e-mail without providing details of the agreement.

The deal helps Sirius market the portable devices in its effort to win subscribers. New York-based Sirius and its larger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. have added digital receivers and sought deals with carmakers to attract listeners. Record companies including EMI were concerned about payment for downloads of music using the devices.

Sirius last month said it had reached agreements on the S50 with Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Sirius declined to provide details of those agreements.

The agreement with EMI was reported earlier by Forbes magazine on its Web site. The agreement limits the number of digital players that Sirius could sell, Forbes said.

The Sirius S50 also allows users to receive live programming and store as much as 50 hours of content.